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LinkedIn for Business

LinkedIn deserves to be ranked among the big three of social media sites, right along with Facebook and Twitter. But LinkedIn is really more valuable for your small business because unlike its rivals, this social-media site focuses specifically on business. In other words, you won’t have people on LinkedIn posting on how good their oatmeal tasted this morning.

How companies are leveraging LinkedIn

There are 1.3 million small-business owners in the network. How are they using it? Exactly what benefits do they see? Here are just a few:

Sharing wins: Promoting your successes is just good marketing. It will make you look good to potential customers. And with 2 million C-level executives using the site, you may find yourself with a few influential new friends.

Getting referrals: LinkedIn makes it easy to get peer and client endorsements for the work you are doing. Best part? When someone recommends you or writes a testimonial, everyone within your network sees it in their activity feed. This type of social proof is the BEST way of getting new customers.

Finding new talent: If your small business keeps growing, you’ll surely need to hire new employees. LinkedIn is a great place – scratch that, it’s the BEST place – to find new players to include in your team.

Promoting events: LinkedIn’s event feature is a game changer! It has never been easier to spread the word and drum up excitement about upcoming events, sales and gatherings. You can even use their service directory to locate professional event planners to assist you.

Boosting website traffic: Here’s a little-known secret about LinkedIn: it’s very influential with Google, so if you have a presence on LinkedIn, you’re likely to see a bump in search engine visibility, too. More eyeballs, more customers.

Getting answers: You can uncover great information on both marketing and running a successful business from other pros in LinkedIn Answers and Groups. There are over 2000 groups specializing in small-business-related topics.

Finding investors, vendors and partners: It’s a networker’s paradise. Whether you need some capital, a new accounting firm, or a business partner, you’re not going to get a better source than LinkedIn.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, people. Visit LinkedIn make up a page for your small business. Trust me; IT’S WORTH YOUR TIME.